PHILLIES NOTEBOOK: Ruf, Brown shine in intrasquad game

CLEARWATER, Fla. – It was one intrasquad game for the Phillies, and there is a chance that none of the pitchers who worked Friday’s exhibition at Bright House Field will see the inside of a big-league clubhouse in 2013, but Charlie Manuel never minds seeing a little hitting take place.

Especially when the hitters are the two young outfielders who could make him feel a lot better about filling out his lineup cards by showing they’re ready to be regulars in the majors.

Darin Ruf and Domonic Brown, the wildcards in a lineup that could stand to get younger, more durable and balanced, combined to go 4-for-4 with three doubles while batting in the Nos. 5 and 6 holes for the team managed by Triple-A manager Dave Brundage. That team technically beat the one managed by Ryne Sandberg, 8-2, in a game that saw a couple of innings end with two outs, an equipment manager serve as the second-base umpire, and Chase Utley decide for the plate umpire that the broken-bat dribbler he hit in his second plate appearance didn’t count … just because.

As far as the legitimacy of the action, this fell somewhere in between an NFL Pro Bowl and a soccer friendly. But hitting is hitting, and two guys who could afford to get through the Grapefruit League with some swagger certainly struck a pose in this one.

Ruf’s first double was a modest drive just inside the left-field foul line. His second double was mashed off the base of the wall in left-center. Brown slapped a clean single to right in his first AB, then roped a ground-rule double down the right-field line.

“Ruf and Brown had a good day, didn’t they?” Manuel said afterward. “They had two good at-bats. We’ll see. They’ll play (Saturday).”

That’s when the Phils open their Grapefruit League schedule at home against the Astros.

* * *Adam Morgan didn’t play it cool when asked if he remembered when he got word that he was invited to big-league camp with the Phillies.

“December 18,” the southpaw said after serving as the starting pitcher for Team Brundage and working two scoreless innings. “I had no idea. (Director of player development) Joe Jordan called me and I was like, ‘Are you sure you got the right number, man?’

“It was awesome. It really hasn’t set in. I still have the voicemail saved. I missed the phone call because I was working out in the morning. He left me a voicemail and I didn’t delete it.”

The Phils drafted Morgan out of the University of Alabama, and he has gotten on the same fast track that Randy Wolf took 15 years ago. In fact, at 6-1, 195, he’s not that physically different that Wolf. And considering the craftiness he shows on the mound – he throws four pitches, none of which is considered a weak link, and got a pair of double-play grounders Friday – he is the type of guy who might be called upon sooner rather than later if rotation help is needed.

“I’m just taking it day by day and enjoying it,” said Morgan, who went 8-11, 3.35 ERA in 27 games between Class A Clearwater and Double-A Reading last season. “I’m picking some of these guys’ brains and trying to learn.”

* * *And now, for those moments in the scrimmage that might make you cringe.

• Michael Young made an error at third. Yes, it was his first game action there of the spring, and it was a sharply hit two-hopper that caught him on the short-hop. And he didn’t whiff – it popped out of his mitt and non-roster invitee Jermaine Mitchell busted it to first to beat the throw. And keep in mind that Young did start 64 games at third over the past two seasons and was an everyday third baseman the two seasons before that. But still, there are concerns about his effectiveness with the glove there.

• Ryan Howard hit a 360-foot single. The good news was that Howard ripped a hard liner off the base of the right-field wall off Ethan Martin. The bad news was that he didn’t seem nimble running to first and didn’t really have a chance to consider stretching it to a double.

“It got to the wall quick, plus it being an intrasquad game…” Howard said.

He doesn’t have to be a speedster, but it would be nice to see Howard regain a step or two after watching him struggle to sprint after coming back from Achilles’ tendon reconstruction last season.